Subject to Change

My, hopefully, last order of parts came, and I replaced the saddle and hand wheel. As you know from a previous post the old saddle was abnormally worn. The old hand wheel was cracked at the set screw hole and had a big chip out of it, more a cosmetic problems on it than anything else.

Installing the new saddle I realized something that I had not seen anywhere about how the retainers were adjusted.

In the photo above (that is the old saddle used for illustrative purposes) you see that there are three hex-socket cap screws and two set screws with lock nuts on them. Most of what I have read on the web says you adjust the set crew for the proper clearance by fiddling with them a lot and then tighten the cap screws. Only, that is not the way to do it at all.

Instead, ignoring the hex sockets in them, tighten down the cap screws with your fingers until they are just starting to snug up. Check that the retainer strip is level with even spacing (we are assuming that no one had destroyed you lathe yet by improper adjustment, if they have you nay not be able to level the retainers).

Move the saddle back and forth on the ways. Does it slide easily without being able to wobble it? It should not be able to rotate noticeably in any direction, but should move back and forth freely. If it does not do that, tighten or loosen the cap screws a smidgeon with your fingers. We are talking something like a sixteenth of a turn here.

Check it again, and readjust again if needed. When you have it just right, using a hex key turn in the set screws until they are just slightly tight. That will put tension on the cap screws so they will not loosen. Then holding the set screws with the hex key so they can not turn, tighten down the lock nuts.

Check that everything is still OK, if not back everything off and do it over.

To double check everything, put a few drops of oil on the ways and run the saddle back and forth. If everything is OK, the oil should spread out evenly. Remember, that the saddle actually rides on the sloping sides of the rail, and about the rear half-inch of the bed.

Congratulations, you have just set your saddle retainers exactly right without bending them, cracking them, or warping the saddle.

The parts for the lathe arrived today, for the past couple of hours I have been working on it, with the result that everything seems to work. I ran it to and fro with the power feed (if I ever figure out how to post a video I will put one up of it working), and the slide moves back and forth easily. I also managed to get the saddle working in what seems to be a satisfactory manor for the time being.

Above is the problem with the saddle. If you look at the right end of the groove you will notice that it is worn to a curve. That allowed the saddle to rotate a bit, which would have made it very difficult to machine anything to tolerance.

That was caused by over tightening the ends of the retainers. In the photo above you can see how worn the ends of these retainers (way gibs) are. What I did to try and fix that problem was run a file along the side of the groove to make a longer straight section to keep the saddle from rotating. About 3/4 of the groove is now straight, but there is no further room for adjustment as the retainer is flat against the saddle.

The other main problem was the broken off leadscrew support. If you compare the above photo with the following one that has had a new support installed you will unerstand what I am writing about.

With that fixed, the power feed will now work with out skipping.

I also now have the change gears that allow me to cut screw threads on the lathe using that power feed,  and the hand tools that came with the lath when new.

As soon as the cutters get here, I will do some experimental machining to make sure things are accurate and correct.

I got a reply from the seller. To paraphrase: “I didn’t know it was junk, so it isn’t my fault”.

Or, in his own words:

“As I said in the ad; The only thing I checked is if the machine turned on. Which it did. It was clean, lubed and appeared to be lightly used. I’m sorry to hear of all the other problems you have apparently encountered with the unit, as I did not know they existed. I’m happy you can acquire the needed parts. Evidently, your a machinist, I’m not. I just bought the machine to do one project, and it was to small. I never even bought any tooling. The guy I bought it from got it from an auction. So, what I got is what you got.”

The following is what I have just ordered to fix the lathe to the point where it will run. The free stuff is parts that come with the lathe that the guy I am buying the parts from tossed in for free. To put the lathe in “out of the box” condition, I would have to order another $80 worth of parts from Mike. Mike sells on eBay  (macnc11). Ever inquired about something from an eBay seller, and have him telephone to see exactly what you were looking for? Mike did. 1000% (yes I typed three zero) recommended. I guess this proves that some days you lose, and others you win.

Started tearing the lathe down to see what was what inside the headstock. Stripped the lathe down piece by piece until I took off the motor cover. What’s this? They motor is not supposed to be mounted at an angle!

Turns out all the motor mount nuts were loose. The funny sound I was hearing was the toothed pully moving against the toothed belt. I tightened up the motor mounts nuts set the proper slack in the belt, plugged it in and turned it on.  The proper parts spun, remember all the gear train had been removed. Installed the bits to drive the spindle, and… it turned smoothly like it should.

So, I put the gear train back on and a couple of the covers….

Partially reassemble lathe

With the gear train back on, where I stopped for the evening (see above photo), I tried running it again. Everything so far is working smoothly. Tried it in forward and reverse, and then again with the lead screw (a long screw that provides power feed to the carriage)  engaged.

Great, so I am not going to have to spend $60 on transmission gears right away.

For some of the other parts I am waiting on a quote from a guy that buys returned ones from Harbor Freight,t and strips them for parts. Only problem is, he does not want to sell bits and pieces, but whole sub-assemblies. So, for instance I can get a thread cutting change gear set from him, but not an extra 50 tooth gear that I want for cutting metric threads.

This is better than I thought it was going to be this morning, but still not a happy making thing. But, I now guess that it will only be about 1/2 what I thought it would to fix the lathe. In other words I will have in it about what a really nice, not a bargain, used one would  cost.